THE family man hoping to build a home for his wife and two young children has hit back at claims that the new house will make the street more dangerous.

As reported last week, a protest begun more than a year ago, against plans for a four-bedroom home in the grounds of the Engine House between Station Road and Summervale in Holmfirth, has been resumed by Summervale resident Karen Formby.

Mrs Formby’s claims the construction of a new property will threaten the safety of the 30 children that play on the narrow residential street.

She is also unhappy about the access route, the size of the development, the potential effects of excavation work, and has claimed the site, in the grounds of an old railway works, could be contaminated, despite being given the all clear in an environmental survey.

Following the original 2007 protest the application was withdrawn, but with news of a new plans for the site Mrs Formby has resumed her petition to block the new home.

Mr Charlie Holden, the local man behind the proposal, said he understood the ‘not in my back-yard’ mentality of the protest but said he thought the access plans for the new home would actually be safer than they were for the majority of properties on Summervale.

He also warned that claims of contamination and asbestos were completely unfounded and potentially damaging for all home-owners in the area.

He said: “We were surprised and disappointed to read that one of the residents was attempting to gather support against our proposed home.

“We don’t want to make a big fuss but would like to avoid your readers forming a negative opinion of the development based on the views of one person. The site already has outline planning permission for one detached dwelling, we are simply trying to build a family home on the land.

“The reason Summervale appealed to us was because we want a safe and pleasant environment for our children to grow up in, we certainly won’t be doing anything that would compromise the safety of pedestrians.

“We have two very young children of our own and would certainly not design a house with a disregard for pedestrian safety. The development will actually improve visibility due to additional car parking being provided and the removal of objects currently stored by the road side.

“It also allows parking for a number of cars with a turning area allowing cars to leave the house in a forward gear.”

Mr Holden added that the planned four bedroom property was fairly standard sized and confirmed there was not going to be a swimming pool. If successful, he hoped to start building work in the summer.